Origin, objective and/or main question: Independence, decolonisation, violence and war in Indonesia, 1945 – 1950 is a joint research programme of the Royal Institute of Language, Land and Ethnology (KITLV), the Netherlands Institute of Military History (NIMH) and the
NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

The Asymmetric Warfare project is being carried out by NIMH. This project focuses on Dutch military action during the Indonesian War of Independence. Research is conducted within three sub-studies: the Dutch intelligence apparatus, the use of heavy weapons/technical force and the military-justice apparatus. For the purpose of these studies, 21 interviews were conducted.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1945 – 1949.
They mainly discuss Indonesia and the Netherlands. Themes include Indonesian revolution,
the Dutch intelligence apparatus, technical violence, heavy weapons, the military-justice apparatus.

Photographer Martin Roemers portrayed 40 veterans from Germany, Russia, Poland, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands for his project The Never-Ending War (2004 – 2005). His research question was whether veterans, regardless of their position on the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ side, have more in common with each other than they do with differences. Five or six of the interviewees were Bronbeek residents. The main question was: what did you do during the war? Besides the portraits, photographs of World War II commemorations are also part of the project.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1945 – 1949.
They mainly discuss Indonesia and the Netherlands. Themes include Indonesian revolution, regret, trauma, survival.

Webpage The Never-Ending War

The interviews were conducted for the benefit of the three-hour documentary film Indonesia Merdeka!, which Kiers made for VPRO in 1976. The interviewees talk about the developments of the struggle for independence in Indonesia before, during and after World War II until the transfer of sovereignty by the Netherlands on 27 December 1949. The documentary was first broadcast on 1 December 1976.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1910 – 1950.
They mainly discuss Indonesia and the Netherlands. Themes include World War II, struggle for independence, transfer of sovereignty, colonialism, decolonisation.

Interviewees:

• R. Abdulghani
• dr. Abu Hanifa
• mr. Mohammad Hatta
• A.H. Nasution
• T.B. Simatupang

The Living Memories/Menghayati Kenangan Foundation recorded life stories as part of Het Gebaar (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, 2000). The aim that this would ensure that the colonial part of history would not be forgotten. The life stories of the interviewees were largely recorded chronologically.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1930 – 2007.
They mainly discuss the Netherlands and Indonesia. Themes include Japanese occupation, ‘bersiap’, Indonesian revolution, repatriation wave 1962, experiences in the Netherlands, resistance.

Het project Herinneringen aan Indië is gestart in 2012. Guido Abuys (conservator Westerbork, tevens zoon van één van de geïnterviewden) startte het project als een vrijwilligersproject. Aanleiding voor het project was het werk van Esmeralda Böhm en Guido Abuys in Duitsland in opdracht van de NOS/NTS, waar ze op zoek waren naar mensen die de ‘bersiap’ periode hebben meegemaakt. Er waren weinig verhalen beschikbaar. Dit motiveerde Guido Abuys het interviewproject Herinneringen aan Indië op te zetten. In dit project werden levensverhalen verzameld. Doelstelling was om zo veel mogelijk verhalen te verzamelen van de eerste generatie ‘Indische Nederlanders’ voor hun overlijden.
Hoofdvraag: Hoe heeft u de aanloop naar de Tweede wereldoorlog, de Indonesische onafhankelijkheidsoorlog, de periode daarna en de reis naar Nederland en aankomst in Nederland ervaren? Via de IHC-nieuwsbrief is toentertijd een oproep gedaan, mensen konden zich opgeven om geïnterviewd te worden. De meeste geïnterviewden zijn witte Nederlandse mannen. Er zijn ook enkele Indonesiërs geïnterviewd. In sommige gevallen zijn er objecten gefotografeerd van mensen die geïnterviewd zijn.
Deze zijn in de IHC beeldbank opgenomen en zullen nog herleid worden naar de interviews.

De interviews gaan in op gebeurtenissen en ervaringen in de jaren 1930 – 1990.
Er wordt voornamelijk over Indonesië en Nederland gesproken. Thema’s zijn o.a. het leven voor de Tweede Wereldoorlog, de koloniale samenleving, de Japanse inval, krijgsgevangenschap, de bevrijding, de Indonesische revolutie, repatriëring, aankomst en ontvangst in Nederland.

Beheer: De collectie wordt beheerd door het Indisch Herinneringscentrum (IHC) en is deels ondergebracht bij Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS).
Toegang: De collectie is openbaar. Bij interesse kan materiaal opgevraagd en bekeken worden in het kenniscentrum van het IHC (CC 0.4).

herinneringen-aan-indie

The aim of the interview project was to capture life stories of the first generation. They were asked about their experiences in the first 20 years in the Netherlands.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the years 1930 – 1991 with an emphasis on 1951 – 1976. They mainly discuss the Netherlands, Indonesia, the Moluccas.
Themes include government policy, integration, resistance, domestic governance, RMS government.

Sometimes there are several inventory numbers per person.

Interviews with Indonesian Dutch, Japanese who played a role during the occupation, officers and other military personnel (British Army, British-Indies Army, Dutch Army, KNIL), Indonesian nationalists and Dutch administration officials.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the 1940s – 1950s. They mainly discuss Indonesia and the Netherlands. Themes include Indonesian struggle for independence, World War II, Japanese occupation, Westerling’s Coup, transfer of sovereignty, internment, independence, governance vacuum, authority vacuum, Hatta, Soekarno, Van Mook, Spoor, Westerling, federalists, nationalists, diplomatic consultations.

The interviews were conducted for the purpose of Bosdriesz’ (16mm) film Ons Indië voor de Indonesiërs. This film was broadcast as a television series by NOS in 1984. The makers’ aim was to capture the decisive developments in the Indonesian struggle for independence by recording the positions and experiences of the interviewees. The focus was on the period of World War II and the year after.

From various perspectives, it describes the disengagement process of the colony of the East Indies. A mixture of experiences and opinions, Japanese, English, Javanese, Dutch, these create a good picture of the historical course of events.

The number of Jews in the former colony of the Dutch East Indies has always been limited. The Jews came from different countries. Dutch Jews, the largest group, lived scattered throughout the Indian archipelago, especially on Java, Sumatra and Celebes (Sulawesi). Jews from Iraq, also called ‘Baghdad Jews’, lived mainly in Surabaya and formed a close-knit community there. Jews from central and eastern Europe also settled in the East Indies. They were later joined by several hundred refugees, from Germany, Austria and Palestine, among others. The reason for going to the East Indies was often the same for both Jews and non-Jews: the career opportunities offered by the colony at a time when jobs were scarce in Europe.

The interviews focus on events and experiences in the 1930s – 2014.
They mainly discuss Indonesia, Bandung, Jakarta, Surabaya, Israel/Palestine and Jerusalem, Italy, Genoa, Austria, Vienna and the Netherlands, Rotterdam. Themes include World War II, Japanese occupation, liberation, Anschluss, alia, Jews in the Indonesian archipelago, Zionist League, children, Camp Adek.

List of names and brief description via online database JCK

• Tamar Wams-Polak
• Huibrecht Andries Mogendorff
• Jacques Lisser
  • Mr Lisser (1925) talks about his childhood in Surabaya, the Japanese occupation and the camps he stayed in during the occupation.
• Lenny van Dam-van Someren
• Suzanne Dorith Lehrer
  • She recounts her early years in Vienna. The flight from Austria, after the Anschluss, to the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese occupation and staying in several camps. Her stay in the Netherlands after the war and her alia to Israel in 1982.

The Jewish Historical Museum presented the exhibition Selamat Shabbat from 13 October 2014 to 8 March 2015. This exhibition tells the underexposed story of Jews in the Dutch East Indies. The exhibition takes visitors to the late 19th century, the colonial era, the war in the Pacific and the post-war situation. Unique historical objects, photographs and interviews reveal moving stories. Contemporary Jewish life in Indonesia was photographed by Pauline Prior in early 2014. This is the first time an exhibition has focused on Jewish life in the Dutch East Indies and Indonesia, a relatively unknown part of Dutch and Jewish history.

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), around 800 Dutch fighters were part of the International Brigades.

The collection includes 63 digitised audio cassettes with interviews conducted by Jaap-Jan Flinterman , Rik Vuurmans , Frans Groot , Hans Dankaart and Henk Otjens with former Spanish fighters.

The interviews were used for the doctoral thesis In het geweer tegen het fascisme, Nederlandse Interbrigadisten in de Spaanse burgeroorlog (Signature: 1990/531 fol) and the book by Hans Dankaart, Jaap-Jan Flinterman, Frans Groot and Rik Vuurmans De oorlog begon in Spanje, Nederlanders in de Spaanse Burgeroorlog 1936-1939. (Signature: 2008/3503).

The typescripts are in the archives “Collection of Dutch participants in the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War”, (ARCH 020806 inv. nos. 33-48; 57-68).

The experiences of the approximately 600 Dutch who went to Spain to fight fascism, based on interviews with former Spanish fighters.

Prior to Publication The war began in Spain, Frans Groot and Rik Vuurmans completed a 1985 thesis at the UvA In het geweer tegen het fascisme: Dutch interbrigadists in the Spanish Civil War

Interviews were conducted with about 20 former Spanish fighters.

The interviewees talk about their experiences in the Korean War (1950-1953). The Dutch were part of a contingent of United Nations forces, under the supreme command of the American General MacArthur. The interviews were made for Van Tijn’s doctoral thesis Nieuwste Geschiedenis Nederlanders in Korea, Koreanen in Nederland (UvA, 1991), available at SFW. Some interviews were conducted with several persons in varying compositions.

B. Bais, J. Bluming, J. Boogert, ds. J. Couvee, K. Dalmeyer (2x), P. Hopman, B. Lurvink, R. Meyer (3x), F.L. Rosdorff, kolonel b.d. L.C. Schreuders (3x), G.N. Tack